One teen is in critical condition and another sustained minor injuries after they were injured while riding on top of a moving car early Sunday morning.
The teenagers, identified as Lisa Smythe and Brigid Murphy, are both students at Centreville High School. Smith and Murphy were sitting on the hood and trunk of a 1998 Honda Civic driven by 18-year old Jon Johnson when Murphy fell onto the road and Smythe onto the windshield. They were coming home from a friend’s party.
Police received a 911 call around 1:30 am Sunday morning from Johnson reporting the accident.
Centerville Police Sergeant Arun Govil reported that the car was going approximately 40 miles per hour around a turn on Hill Crest Lane when the girl was thrown from atop the trunk. She was unconscious when found at the scene, and transported to Centreville Memorial Hospital with head and neck injuries.
Smythe, in a press conference earlier today, said the two were “car surfing.” Car surfing, she reported, is where someone drives a car while others sit or lie on top of the car. She said they and other teenagers engage in the activity, which they found out about on YouTube, almost on a weekly basis.
“We were just having fun,” a shaken up Smythe said, “we didn’t think anyone would get hurt.”
The two had been car surfing for about ten minutes before the accident, she reported. She claims to have been yelling to Johnson to slow down, but he did not hear her. When they rounded the corner, Smythe was able to grab on to a windshield wiper and keep herself on the car as Murphy, unable to grab a hold of anything, flew off the back. Smith suffered minor wrist and leg injuries, but was cleared by paramedics at the scene.
The two girls had been close friends since they were young, and had competed on tennis and track teams together. “She’s been my best friend forever,” Smythe said. “And to think she might die is just very scary.”
Johnson, the driver of the car, is Murphy’s longtime boyfriend. The two, who Smythe compares to “Edward and Bella from Twilight,” are supposed to attend Ohio State University together next year.
No charges have been filed but police are continuing to investigate the incident, including whether or not alcohol or any other foul play was involved.
-Stephanie Thornton
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